Home At Last · 4:48am May 24th, 2018
What a weekend... I’m back from my first Everfree Northwest, and certainly not my last. My wife and I had a great time attending panels, meeting people, participating in contests… but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start with the shoutouts. I met a lot of people. In no particular order:
mrk
Oldenbrony
Level Dasher
Novel Idea
Titanium Dragon
Sun Sage
Hap
GrandMoffPony and his wife whose name escapes me
Georg (whose wife was busy sciencing Mount Rainer)
Cojero
Redsquirrel456
Orobro
Ruirick
Admiral Biscuit
Silver Flare
Xepher
Cloud Hop
Winston
NadnerbD
KC Darkhorse
(did I miss somebody? Sound off in the comments!)
I don’t consider myself shy normally, just quiet and introverted. Walking into a room filled with the above crowd though… well that was another matter. Suffice it to say that I had a great time talking to everyone and hope we all see each other again.
I didn’t buy much swag this year, partly because I’m running out of wall space, partly because this was an expensive trip. I did pick up a stunning Celestia portrait from NadnerbD, and an amazing pen from Ruirick. Should I ever become famous and have people lining up for my autograph, this is the pen I’ll be using. Speaking of autographs, the signed cover art for Cleave was successfully auctioned off for charity. I don’t know who bought it or for how much, alas, but if you’re that person and don’t mind piping up, I’m pretty sure ajvasquezbrony28 wants to send an extra thank you your way 
As for panels, we mostly stuck to the writing track. The highlight for me was definitely when some of the VIPs (including Josh Haber and Big Jim Miller!) talked shop about writing and character development. The community-driven writing panels were great too (even if they kept circling back to Sunset). There’s a lot of talent in this fandom, and squeezing a portion of it into a physical room is a very interesting experience. I can’t wait for next year!
And then there was a writing contest…
If you aren’t aware, EFNW hosts a writing contest called Iron Author that allows its participants two hours to craft a fanfic based on a few prompt words. I rarely have two hours a day to myself, let alone two hours dedicated purely to writing. I sat down with my iPad (and my headphones, and my headphone amp, and a snack…) and cranked out 2500 words with only seconds to spare. It was quite a ride, one that left me shaking a little afterwards. I walked out feeling nervous about the story I’d fired off into the ether without so much as a reread, but also proud for having finished it. My story didn’t place in the contest, sadly, but now that I’ve had some time to reflect on everything, it’s probably for the best. When I saw the prompt words (fire, palpable, and brooch), I decided to do something big and bold. I decided to delve into a canon-given AU and do some world-building, and even though the contest is over I’m really excited to keep working on this story. It deserves to be so much more than its initial draft, and soon enough it will be. I’ve been waffling over which writing project to pick up next, and now I’m wholeheartedly committed to making this one shine.
But enough about me. My wife decided to try Iron Author too. She’s an adept writer, but hasn’t tried ponyfic until now. She wrote something risky and unique that impressed Xepher, and you’ll have a chance to read it too, just as soon as it escapes fimfic moderation. After prereading every story I’ve ever written (pony and otherwise) for countless years, my wife made a fimfic account. Finding her account is an (embarrassingly easy) exercise left up the reader.
That’s all for now. I have some writing to do!
It was great to finally meet you in person! I'm honored to be third on that list.
You've already read that disaster of a story I called an entry to IA, but I'm looking forward to yours! Depending on the length and what's going on with me, I'd be happy to give it an editing pass also.
I believe I found your better half on here, and I'll be reading her story, too!
See you both around!
Glad you made it out to EFNW this year. It was good meeting you in person! I hope you found the convention both enjoyable to be at and useful as a writer.
It was great seeing you there! I'm sorry we didn't get to talk more.
One of us! One of us!
Huzzah!
Lovely ^^
Any of the panels recorded? :)
And yes! Who bought it!!!?!?! >.< XD
Well, just glad it sold
(Waves a hoof in the background)
I love these conventions where I can put names with faces but even :during: the con I get them scrambled.
I enjoyed meeting you and your family. Sad I was in costume when you and your wife were or I might have recognized you two and taken a picture.
also, what you end up doing with one of the backup covers KC gave you for your trouble?
Glad you made it to EFNW! I couldn't go due to some personal reason but there's always a next time!
I take it your an audiophile? If so what kind of setup do you have?
4868446
Haha, I haven't figured that part out yet. I've barely unpacked.
4868998
There's definitely next time!
I'm a wannabe at best, considering I don't listen to holier-than-thou studio masters (or genres for which such things exist). At the moment I carry around an Oppo HA-2 and Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 headphones. Better equipment exists, sure, but I probably can't make the music I like sound much better to my ears, or at least not without plunking down way more money than I could possibly afford to spend.
4868242
Aww, I liked your depiction of crazed and obsessive Rarity
I'll definitely let you know when my story is ready
4868375
All the more reason that we need to cross paths again
4869077
HA2 you say? I've owned one for quite some time before selling it for an iFi iDSD BL. For the time I've owned it I mostly paired it with HD600, very underpowered for such high-impedance can I'm sure, but pretty good synergy. The sennheisers, regardless of model, are just so damn smooth.
But yeah those were the days, after I acquired a pair of Abyss last year I pretty much stopped listening to anything else. I really, really hate to smother people with audiophile nonsense but headphones like ABYSS coupled with a potent speaker amp delivers such an eerie sense of realism that makes anything you throw at it sounds life-like regardless of genre or recording quality. One of my friends has a Perfectwave+BHSE+007 setup and that's a memorable system as well. I played some horse tracks on his system and man, close your eyes and you can literally touch Pinkie and her gang.
I miss those days when I can just sit down with a pair of porta pro for hours not caring much about anything else.